Threatened Species Recovery

The ACT is home to many nationally threatened species under threat of extinction. ACT Natural Resource Management (NRM) is investing in projects to support the recovery of priority species listed in the Australian Threatened Species Action Plan, and also other threatened species that live in threatened ecological communities (box-gum grassy woodlands, natural temperate grasslands, and sphagnum bogs), such as the Grassland Earless Dragon, the Striped Legless Lizard, Pink-tailed Worm Lizard, and the Corroboree Frog.

Priorities are:

intervening in emergencies to protect our rare and remarkable animals and plants

Mulligan’s Flat Wildlife Sanctuary was established in the ACT to research and support restoration of box-gum grassy woodlands and associated biodiversity. The ACT and Commonwealth governments are supporting the sanctuary’s expansion to 1555 hectares (triple its current size), protecting more box-gum grassy woodland and creating opportunities to bring back other species such as the Eastern Quoll and New Holland Mouse.

Partnering with the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust, this investment will also be leveraged by the local community’s innovative fundraising campaign which is encouraging regular donations and a sustainable funding base.

The Improving Canberra’s Native Grasslands Project will build on existing investments to improve the condition of the critically endangered Natural Temperate Grasslands in the ACT’s open space network.

The focus of this small project is to improve the accessibility of grasslands to the public, through interpretative signage, and installation of Fluker Posts. This interpretative infrastructure will allow the community to observe and record changes in grassland condition over time, and help inform adaptive management in these sites. The project will help inform the community of the importance of threatened species in our grassland reserves.

In the ACT it is estimated that only a handful of Corroboree Frogs remain in the wild from original populations, due to the introduced pathogen, the Amphibian Chytrid Fungus, which has affected frogs worldwide.

Each ring-tank will house around 50 adult Northern Corroboree Frogs, together with a sphagnum moss pool for breeding and raising tadpoles.

The ring-tanks will contribute to increased capacity and quality of ex-situ breeding facilities for Corroboree frogs, enabling frogs to be raised under more natural conditions (leading to improved fitness for release to the wild) and potentially enabling an additional 90 frogs to be released to the wild annually.